Overwatch Game Director Talks Hero 26

Since its launch in May of 2016, Overwatch‘s roster has been steadily growing, with new heroes added to the lineup every so often to keep things fresh. Considering the game’s persistent popularity, it’s not surprising that Blizzard has been hard at work on the game’s 26th hero, but some fans may be surprised to learn that Hero 26 is already very far in development.

This is according to Overwatch game director Jeff Kaplan, who recently discussed the game’s next hero, though didn’t provide many concrete details. “Hero 26 is very playable and very fun internally, and that’s all I’ll say,” Kaplan said. “It’s not coming out as soon as you think, but Hero 26 is already amazing.”

Kaplan’s comments indicate that even though Hero 26 is supposedly “very playable and very fun,” it may be a long while before fans actually get their hands on the new character. However, there have been a slew of significant updates to Overwatch within the past few months, including the addition of new maps, new game modes like Team Deathmatch, and the latest character, Doomfist. Considering this, there should be plenty of content to keep Overwatch fans engaged before Hero 26 makes their debut in the game.

In fact, there’s even more content coming to Overwatch in the very near future. On September 19th, Blizzard will be adding the new Junkertown mapto the game, which should help keep things fresh in the map rotations. Speaking of Junkertown, though, it’s possible that the new map may offer clues as to the identity of the mysterious Hero 26.

Some fans that have played the Junkertown map in the PTR have speculated that Hero 26 is the Queen of Junkertown, who can be seen on a poster. While this could very well be the case, Blizzard has not confirmed it, and it’s possible that Hero 26 is a different character entirely, like the cybernetically-enhanced chimpanzee that was rumored a few months back.

Whoever Hero 26 is, Overwatch fans shouldn’t expect to hear too much about the new character any time soon. However, with BlizzCon 2017 taking place on November 3rd and 4th in Anaheim, California, perhaps Hero 26 will still make their debut before the year is out.